Another Day In The Hyland Lake Park Reserve

   On June 30th, I once again made my way north to the Twin Cities and the Hyland Lake Park Reserve to meet with my friend Shonuff' for his regular 10AM meetup and skills practice.
   The weather was perfect to begin with, but I could tell it was going to be a warm day eventually and we would be thankful to be in the shade and in the picnic area on the hill, where the wind would keep us cool.
   As we hiked the trails, we worked on edible and medicinal plant ID, tree ID, some navigation and also some direction finding techniques.
   We eventually arrived at the Nature Center where we explored some debris shelters and their construction.
   Here is a list of most of the days activities in a nutshell:

•Land Nav- used park maps
•Direction Finding- used daytime moon to find "South"
•Worked on Medicinal Plant ID- white yarrow, greater plantain
•Worked on Edible PLant ID- wild strawberries, cattail, basswood leaves
•Observed wildlife- wild turkeys, osprey, various chipmunks, squirrels and rabbits
•Visited debris shelters and studied construction and visited 2 year old winter shelter
•Worked on Tree ID- Basswood, Willow, Red and White Oaks, Elm, Ash, Box Elder, Maples, Birch
•Practiced Friction Fire- bowdrill: basswood on basswood, 2 stick hearth board, natural and man-made tinders, false tinder fungus
•Practiced Fire by Magnification- sun to false tinder fungus to cedar bark tinder to flame

   Towards the end of the day, we were able to give several demonstrations of firecraft to a group of kids that were attending a birthday party celebration in the picnic area adjacent to ours. It was a lot of fun and the kids had a great time trying out the bowdrill and using flint and steel. Three of the boys worked together to get an ember with a bowdrill which Sho' was happy to help bring to flame for them.
    Here is the video of that days great adventure.

 
   As I did not have permission to be taking video of the kids, I was not able to capture their surprise and amazement on camera, but all around they were smiling and having a good time with learning about bushcraft. We shared the contents of our kits and talked also about the essentials and important skills to practice and also about the "rule of threes" and the sacred order.
   I have to call that outing and adventure a complete success and I look forward to going up there again. Hopefully we will begin to have some regular attendance and get to meet a few more Minnesota BushcraftUSA members so that we can begin to plan a multi-day event in the future.
   Thank you my friends for following along on my adventures and I hope you enjoyed the video. Until next time, Happy Exploring.

New Friends Meet Thru The Love Of Bushcraft

    I had the very great privilege of meeting for the first time, BushcraftUSA member "Sticker" and his significant other on Saturday, Oct. 27th for a regularly scheduled meet up of bushcrafters. "Sticker" aka Terry, has only been a member for a little over a week now and they both decided that it might be fun to meet up and start working on the BushclassUSA Basic lessons. We met as usual at 9AM in the Group Camping Parking lot of the Minneopa State Park, here in southcentral Minnesota. After waiting for about a half hour to see if any other members would arrive, we headed out on our hike.
    I decided to help them work towards their first lesson "Student Practice for a Twig Fire" by going over the basics of gathering natural tinders, discussing the use of ferro rods, using man-made tinders and the mechanics of building the twig fire. Once we arrived on site near the river, they set to work gathering their materials.
    Here now is the video of our day trip, and all the fun we had meeting up for the first time and becoming friends for the experience.

   Along the way, we talked about friction fire methods and then the discussion turned to other ways of making fire. I took the opportunity to demonstrate a bow drill fire using some basswood for a spindle and some cottonwood for a hearth board. I could see that Terry was watching the whole process pretty carefully, so I gave him the proven set to take home and try on his own if he liked. We also looked at starting fire with flint and steel and now I am sure we will be building some tinder kits soon. It was a lot of fun.
    After some hot chocolate, we headed back to the vehicles and called it a day. I have to say, it was a fun way to make new friends. We definitely have some new members to BushcraftUSA and have set them on the path of enlightenment.
   Terry has since shared with me in a PM that they are now working on getting together a couple of kits using the Finnish Gas Mask bags and that they have ordered some new ferro rods. Way to go, you two!
    I hope you enjoyed the video. Until next time, Happy Exploring.

On Bushcraft Friends And Bushcraft Adventure

   On Friday, October 12th, I had the privilege to meet up with a good friend and fellow bushcrafter, BCUSA member "XMP" from the Twin Cities. Steve and I had met at the second annual Hardwoodsman Meet 2012 back in April. We had kept in touch thru BushcraftUSA with friend messaging and PM's and finally worked out a time to meet up once again. He had arrived on the previous day at the Minneopa State Park and had already explored most of the seven miles of trails that park has to offer. I had told him that I would come out Friday after work, and we could share a good camp fire and talk bushcraft and tell tall tales.
   We had a great time and it was good catching up and having a bit of a show and tell and just enjoying the warmth of the fire. It was totally overcast and there was a threat of rain in the forecast, so I was hoping it would not last long if it did. The plan was to get together again on Saturday morning for what I would like to call a regular Saturday morning meetup of bushcrafters at 9am in the Group Camping parking lot. I had invited some other members to come and meet Steve and I the following morning and as we parted company, we both figured that either way, we would make a good day of it, just exploring the park and taking time to practice some skills and the like.
   Saturday morning came and I arrived at 9am and Steve showed up a short time after in his black Jeep Wrangler. I remember thinking how much I like that Wrangler. I need to get me one of those some day. Nice bushcraft vehicle for sure. We wandered over to fill our canteens and in short order member "Steene" and his son "Camper Tater" arrived and it was game on.
   We got acquainted by getting our respective alcohol stoves going and making up some tea and hot chocolate for everyone. Then as we coped with a little drizzle, we headed out on a hike. Wade and his son Chris would not have a whole lot of time, but as we prepared to go out for a hike we worked on some natural cordage using fibers from some "Button Weed" that Wade had brought. Wade also showed Steve and I a hammock and a net he had made. He is very good at making nets. I hope he can teach me about this skill one day.
   We soon headed out and worked on plant and tree ID and I quizzed Chris on identifying some plants we found and what their uses were; cattail for natural tinder, thistle down for the same and mullein leaves for "toilet paper". We also stopped for a short time as I demonstrated using the scrappings of the inner bark of the paper birch to get a flame with a ferro rod. The guys liked that idea.
   Wade and Chris soon had to part our company and Steve and I continued the journey to explore more of the park. I was determined to bring him to some of the sites I frequent. Along the way, as often as I could think of it, I would take some video to record some of our adventure. We were having so much fun, it was hard to stop and think of making a video record of our adventure.
   We visited a debris shelter I had made in haste. (The one featured in the previous blog post) We examined various samples of animal scat, most likely coyote. We found an animal den, possibly fox. We explored some stream beds, saw birds of prey, and came upon a small garter snake trying to get warm.
   Here is the short video of our day trip adventure and I hope you enjoy it.

   We sure had a good time. I am so hoping for more expeditions and more time with my bushcraft friends. It is always fun to get together to explore, practice skills and to show and tell and tell tale tales. This is how you truly find the heart of bushcraft, by sharing it with others. Happy Exploring.

A Day Trip With My Bush Buddy

   It is always a pleasure to get out for a day trip and to explore with my bush buddy Christian. He always reminds of what it is like to be a kid. That makes for some really good bushcraft adventure. We really get in some good dirt time. He enjoys learning the things I can teach him and he teaches me things about being curious and observing and about getting dirty and wet and close to the things that really make it fascinating. He never gives me any excuses why he does not want to go. He always wants to be outdoors and on an expedition. He has told me flat out, he will never refuse an invitation to go "for a hike". I like that. He is faithful to his word. He is always good to go. He is my son and I love him.
   He challenges me to keep honing my skills, no matter what the subject might be some days. As he is learning more about bushcraft, he is challenging me in other ways. One example came up on this latest trip.
   We had sort of reached the end of our trail, following a stream bed and decided to stop, fire up my trangia alcohol stove and boil some water to make a couple cups of hot chocolate. As I was getting that going, he found a lost "Bic" lighter and wanted to see if he could use that resource to start a fire. I was sitting under a tree along the shore and asked him what kind it was. He said basswood and he was right. We then discovered a part of the tree was a deadfall, so he harvested some of the inner bark for tinder and challenged me to make a bow drill fire with some of what was left. I accepted the challenge. It was fun.
   Here is a video of our adventure that morning. It is a little long, but I think entertaining and especially if you like spending time with your kids. I hope you enjoy it.

   I am sorry that I did not get his success in getting a twig fire going with the tinder he had made up, but he did succeed in getting a fire going with the found lighter, all on his own. Just before the trip began, he was able to run a 7 point compass course that lead him to a water source and I thought he did quite well in that for a first timer.
   He is fast becoming a good bushkid and I look forward to many more trips and learning a few more things from him. Take the opportunity to get out with a kid and enjoy what "real" dirt time is all about.
Thanks for watching and Happy Exploring.

For Friction Fire Tuesday...

   Well, as it was Friction Fire Tuesday at BushcraftUSA, I decided to join in the fun and try my hand at it. More specifically, I wanted to try a wood combination that has been giving me trouble for quite awhile. So today it was Norway Maple on Norway Maple.

   To preface this, I would like to go back to the Hardwoodsman Meet 2012 that I had the privilege to attend back in April. Before the meet, I looked upon friction fire methods as something to know and to try occasionally, and I did have successes over the years, but it was nothing that I would "practice" on a regular basis. It was just "back pocket" kind of knowledge and more like an occasional party trick to pull out on a camping trip with friends.

   But at the HWM, I learned that it was something to be practiced, and studied and favored as one of the best and most advanced of skills you could learn as a bushcrafter. My eyes were open. I was hooked.

   On Thursday night, just before the Meet started on Friday, two guys came by my tent as I attempted to try a hand drill fire with a piece of mullein I had harvested and a piece of box elder for a hearth board.

   One of the guys, if I remember correctly was "Scooter" who I later would learn, would be the winner of the skills competitions for the Meet. The other guy was Ross or aka "Redmech", who I would later learn, was a friction fire wizard in his own right and had been studying friction fire methods almost exclusively since the last Hardwoodsman Meet in 2011. These two brothers, stopped long enough to help me get some finger loops fashioned and attached to my hand drill spindle. In the end, they helped me to succeed in getting an ember. Whoo Hoo!!

   I later discovered Ross had a great collection of wood types for spindles and hearth boards, all organized in what I think was a couple of large cases that made moving it all around, easy to setup, and to practice a great number of combinations. He showed me that organization was key to building a good practice  set. So from this, I started to label all my wood types. I am still looking for a case like his. I think it was something for storing a compound bow perhaps? Maybe a large gun or rifle case? I am not sure. Long, flat, wide. Something.

    Anyway, back to Friction Fire Tuesday. I just had to have some fun and got this video in the process.

   Before I wrap this up I would just like to say, "Where has the month of July gone?" Here it is, July 13th or rather Friday the 13th, my lucky day! and this is my first posting for the blog this month.  I have been really busy with lots of bushcraft adventures, I just need to stop long enough to just share it all with you, my friends.
Hopefully I can get some more video taken about some upcoming adventures. I will be meeting with some bushcraft friends soon to help them with bushclass lessons and I know that will be fun. Also, there will be more fun with friction fire. Until then, Happy Exploring and remember to get out and get dirty.

Nothing Like First Ember With Bow Drill

    As I have said it before, no matter how many times I create an ember using some method for fire by friction, it fascinates me. Over the years, it has never become old, it is and always will be a "gift of fire" every single time.
   I had the very fortunate moment at the 2012 Hardwoodsman Meet, to not only make a new friend, but to capture his first attempt at making fire by friction. He was elated, surprised, hurried, excited, thrilled and absolutely giddy about getting his first ember. And it won't of course be his last time. Once you are on the path to using natural means to make fire and natural tinders to sustain it, there is no turning back. Like my friend Ross, with the Arctic Mouth Drill, my friend Grizzly Adams will be making and searching for even more ways to fuel his addiction to making fire by friction. (pardon the pun)
   So here is that moment, when it all comes together and you know for the first time that it is possible and that you just know you can do it again...

   I hope you give friction by fire, especially with the bow drill, a try. It is a firecraft skill definitely worth pursuing.  We will re-visit this topic time and time again, as firecraft is so important to bushcraft. In point of fact, nearly half of all the lessons for BushclassUSA Basic and Intermediate Classes are dedicated to the process of making fire. It is that important. So until next time. Happy Exploring.

Display of Skills: The Arctic Mouth Drill

   As it was my privilege to attend the 2012 Hardwoodsman Meet near Ashland, MO, I was truly impressed with the incredible display of skills by many of the BushcraftUSA members that attended. I met some of the finest woodsman in the country, and felt as if I was in the presence of giants. One of woodsman that showed up and goes by the screen name "Redmech", took the time to demonstrate a fire making method known as the "Arctic Mouth Drill." He had posted video and some of his success with it on the BushcraftUSA forum website, but this in person demonstration was to me an amazing show of "mad" bushcraft skill. We were in near darkness with just our flashlights kind of guiding us around. Redmech kept working with his knife in near dark, to prepare his little drill set. It is based on the standard bow drill for friction fire, only it is much smaller and can fit in the palm of your hand. He worked steadily, and continued perfecting the tools until he had success. Here is the video I was able to capture of that moment. I am still amazed.

I hope you were amazed as much as I was. This is something that I will have to try at some point, just to learn yet another method of starting fire. I was very fortunate to be able to create my first ember with a hand drill on that weekend, but I will save that story for later. I am still amazed by all that talent and skill shown on that weekend in April, when some of the best took the time to share what they know, to help us all become better woodsman. If I am ever considered by some to be a good woodsman, it will be because I was able to stand on the shoulders of giants. Happy Exploring.

Hardwoodsman Meet 2012

   I know that it has been some time since my last post, but I have been busy with some really great bushcraft adventures. From April 18th to the 22nd, I attended the 2012 Hardwoodsman Meet held near Ashland, MO. It was in the Pine Ridge Recreation Area campground in the Mark Twain State Forest. For me it was five days of solid bushcraft. I met a band of brothers I will never forget. We all shared a love for bushcraft, and we were all able to share with each other that incredible adventure. There were sessions in training on several subjects, including bow drill fire, wilderness first aid, improvised backpacks, insulation beds, water purification, plant ID, knots, split wood fire building. The competitions on Saturday, kept us all on our toes. The fellowship was incredible, and I now have a group of friends that will continue to share their adventures with me as we learn together. The event was put together by Iz Turley of Turley Knives and sponsored in part by BushcraftUSA and Bushcraft Outfitters. It was an incredible time.
   Here is a video montage of some of the best moments from the meet. I hope you enjoy.

I am sure that more of this adventure will need to be shared, but I will save that until later. Until then, Happy Exploring.